Sara Ahmadi, Bijan Eftekhari Yekta, Hossein Sarpoolaky, Alireza Aghaei,
Volume 18, Issue 4 (12-2021)
Abstract
In the present work, monolithic gels were prepared through different drying procedures including
super critical, infrared wavelengths and traditional drying methods. Dense and transparent glasses
were obtained after controlled heat treatment of the dried porous xerogels in air atmosphere.
The chemical bonding as well as different properties of the prepared gels and the relevant glasses
were examined by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer-Emmitt-
Teller (BET) and UV-Vis spectrometer. Based on the obtained results, different drying conditions
affect the average pore size and the total pore volume of the studied gels. The mean pore size was
found to be 8.7 nm, 2.4 nm and 3.2 nm for super critical, IR radiation and slow drying in air
atmosphere, respectively. The glass network structure was significantly changed by heat treatment temperature so that the B-O-Si bonds were formed only after 450 °C. It was found that the gel dried under super critical condition was unable to reach to its full density all over the selected sintering temperature interval.
